There’s a statement I’ve heard repeatedly from women throughout my IT career:

“My good work should speak for itself.”

I believed that too for many years.

I worked hard, delivered results, and assumed my leadership would notice.

But eventually I had to ask myself:

Was my work really speaking for itself?

While I was doing great work, I wasn’t receiving the advancement opportunities I wanted—and felt I had earned.

Meanwhile, I watched others advance and wondered, “What are they doing that I’m not?”

One of the biggest differences was how they communicated their value. 

They made sure leadership understood their accomplishments and impact.

That changed how I thought about career advancement.

Doing great work matters. But you also have to make your impact visible to decision makers. 

In this episode, I’ll share five ways to increase your visibility, take ownership of your career goals, and position yourself for advancement. 

Why Good Work Alone Can’t Speak for Itself 

When you work in a competitive field like IT, you’re surrounded by intelligent, capable, hardworking people who are constantly learning and adapting as technology evolves.

And while learning and implementing new technologies is exciting, the technology itself isn’t what creates value for the business.

You have to envision how that technology can be used to solve real business problems—whether that’s improving efficiency, reducing costs, or creating new capabilities for your customers.

And just as importantly, you have to be able to communicate that value to your customers and business stakeholders in a way that makes sense to them.

The same principle applies to your career.

Your leadership may know you’re doing good work, but do they understand the impact your work is having on the organization?

That’s where many women leaders in IT get uncomfortable because it can feel like self-promotion.

And I’m not suggesting that you brag about your accomplishments or over-sell what you’re doing. That can feel awkward and inauthentic.

What I am suggesting is that you learn how to communicate your contributions naturally and strategically so your leadership understands the value you’re providing.

So how do you take a more active role in your career advancement without feeling like you’re promoting yourself?

Here are five ways to make your impact more visible and position yourself for where you want to go next:

1. Communicate impact, not activity

Don’t stop at stating what you and your team accomplished. Explain the impact and why it mattered.

For example:

“We completed the cloud migration.”

Help leadership understand:

“We completed the cloud migration, which reduced our infrastructure costs by $5K/yr, improved system reliability to 99%, and eliminated a significant business risk.”

You’re not saying, “Look how wonderful I am.” You’re communicating why the work mattered.

This also reinforces a skill senior leaders need: translating IT work into business value.

2. Create a regular cadence with your manager

Don’t wait until performance appraisal time and hope your manager remembers everything you’ve accomplished over the past year.

Use one-on-ones and regular check-ins to discuss:

Your manager shouldn’t have to piece together the story of your impact. Help them understand it clearly in business terms.

3. Let other people’s voices reinforce your impact

If a customer sends wonderful feedback about your team, share it with your manager and give your team the credit.

For example:

“I wanted to share this feedback we received from Finance. The team has worked really hard to improve this process, and it’s great to see the difference it’s making for them.”

You’re celebrating your team, sharing business impact, and your leadership is seeing evidence of the culture and results you’ve created.

4. Build relationships beyond your direct manager

If only your manager knows what you’re capable of, your visibility is too dependent on one person.

Build genuine relationships with your manager’s peers, business leaders, other IT leaders, and senior leaders throughout your company.

Over time, some of those relationships may become trusted allies and advocates.

When others understand your skills, capabilities, and potential, they may speak up on your behalf and open doors to opportunities you wouldn’t have discovered on your own. 

Your reputation needs to extend beyond your current reporting structure.

5. Talk openly about where you want to go

Don’t expect your leadership to know what you want.

If you’re interested in gaining enterprise experience, moving into a different management role, leading a larger organization, advancing to a director, taking on a stretch assignment, or developing a particular competency, say so.

Then ask them what experience or qualifications you would need to be considered for that kind of opportunity. It comes across as confident, curious, and growth-oriented.

That question encourages them to think more strategically about your future while giving you specific feedback about what you need to develop. 

The people making decisions about future leadership opportunities can’t know what you want unless you’re willing to tell them. Give them the opportunity to help you get there.

For many years, I believed that if I worked hard enough and delivered great results, the right people would notice and opportunities would naturally follow.

And sometimes they did.

But I eventually learned that I had an important role to play in that process too.

Advancing your career means understanding the value you bring, communicating your impact, building relationships with people who know what you’re capable of, and being willing to tell your leadership where you want to go.

That’s not bragging.

That’s taking ownership of your career.

You don’t have to wait and hope someone notices how hard you’re working or guesses what you’d like to do next.

Make your impact visible, have the conversations, ask what you need to develop, and then intentionally prepare yourself for the opportunities you’re seeking.

You may be surprised by the doors that begin to open when the right people understand the value you bring and know where you want to go. 

Your good work does matter, but don’t expect it to speak for itself. Make sure the right people understand the value you’re creating.

Stay empowered and lead assertively!

TOPIC: Stand in Your Power